The Pemberton Music Festival, which kicks off tomorrow in Whistler, BC, is gearing up to be one of the biggest events yet – headliners include Nine Inch Nails, Outkast, deadmau5, and Soundgarden, along with Frank Ocean, Kendrick Lamar, Metric, and Snoop Dogg.
The Trailer Park Boys, Bob Saget, and Tom Green will also be on hand for some comedic relief. In total, there will be close to 100 performers on six different stages. More than 25,000 people are expected to attend this year’s event.
For the full line-up, click here.
Pemberton, which runs from July 16-20, is not only five days of music but many attendees also choose to camp on-site. The music festival started in 2008 and exceeded all organizers’ expectations – 40,000 people showed up and occupied what was intended to accommodate just 2,400. “(It went) beyond the basic challenge of getting around town and meeting your basic needs,” said Kerry Mehaffey, an official with the Lil’wat Nation, where the first Pemberton Music Festival was held (CP). “We had people wandering through people’s yards – front yards, back yards, near their houses – setting up tents, parking in people’s front yards without permission.”
“What we’re building is the Coachella of Canada,” added A. J. Niland, Huka’s co-founder, the company sponsoring the event (CP). “This is maybe the most beautiful festival site I’ve ever seen, and that was the peak of the interest,” he said. “And then I got a dose of reality from all the problems of 2008. And I went, ‘Ah, you know what? This probably was too good to be true.”
Photo: Outkast
